In the news today, is the announcement that the storied New York Times will be introducing a for-pay model for their web information. Information on their new “metered model” is here and in the video below:

In my humble opinion, the metered model shouldn’t be necessary. What the New York Times should do is to finally acquiesce to the changing times. It’s 2010 and their delivery methods are still somewhat the same. Sure, they have a great looking newspaper and a great-looking web site, but how do the two platforms meet and support one another? The answer: They don’t.

Here’s my suggestion: The New York Times should implement QR or bar codes for all advertisements in their paper version such that simple micropayment transactions can be executed with mobile devices. See a good blog post here and another video below for how they’re widely used in Asia.

They can use the QR codes to integrate their online media (ex: David Pogue videos) with their paper version so that a scan of the codes in the paper version would bring up the video in iTunes (on either the iPhone or the iTablet) for purchase at a reasonable price somewhere between $0.10 – $0.25. They can do the same for other digital media like music, video, e-books, etc.

They can then take a cut on the transaction (and or just increase advertising rates, since they can argue that advertising within the Times is more conducive to revenue-enablement to the advertisers).

They should also change the dimensions of the printed version to tabloid size to reduce paper costs and or work to develop some sort of for-pay printable (and delivered) version for people who still want to read on the train/have tangible version in their hands. The for-pay printable version should also enable customer-specific advertising (based on associative recommendations, like Amazon) that also allows for quick and easy transaction execution.

In this way, they keep a cost-effective paper version of their news that will satisfy the traditionalists yet can actually be read easier, but also offer a hybrid style of media that is more executable and brings greater value to both readers and advertisers.

Perhaps they’ve explored these options, my assumption is that they haven’t. Happy to hear anyone’s comments on these ideas.

Some part of it certainly has to do with the Program’s NIME class which is very popular and downright entertaining (mindblowing, even).

Lots of fellow students are playing with the Monome (see below) which is a much cheaper version/concept of the Tenori-On also below. Check out the alt. guitar type devices, one of which was created for the NIME class by Paul Rothman.

Then, of course, to top it all off is Nullsleep, at forefront of the vanguard for new music controllers and musicianship. One of the fathers(?) of 8 bit music (also known as ChipTunes), NullSleep (aka Jeremiah Johnson) hacks into the sound cards of old Nintendo Gameboys in order to create new music. Check it out!

MK 1 MIDI Guitar at ITP NIME 2009 from Aaron Cael on Vimeo.

por tu mal comportamiento te vas a arrepentir
y en vano tendras que pagar todo mi sufrimiento
lloraras y lloraras sin nadie que te consuele
asi te daras de cuenta que si te engañan duele

This song is replete with the self confident braggadocio of a man telling a woman how she is going to cry when she realizes what she had, how she is going to regret her bad behavior and her deceipt. “Lloraras” literally means “you are going to cry,” and D’Leon clearly is reminding his woman of his resolute belief that what goes around comes around. D’Leon’s lyrics exclaim his current worth as a man and the darkness of this woman’s future without him. “Lloraras” is the good Latin man’s version of “I Will Survive.” Check it below.

Here are some more of my favorite salsa jams in YouTube format for your viewing and dancing pleasure!

The php code below can be included in the index page of your website. It is intended to identify whether/not the visitor is accessing your site using either an iPhone, iPod Touch or an Android. If it is one of those devices, the script will re-direct the user to what can be your mobile-optimized website. Otherwise it will do nothing.

<?php
if((strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], ‘iPhone’) !== FALSE || strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], ‘iPod’) !== FALSE || strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],’Android’) !== FALSE) && !isset($_GET['noiphone'])) {header(‘Location: http://putyourwebsiteaddresshere.com’);}
php>

Adding this code below between the <head></head> section of the HTML for your mobile website will assist in optimizing the website for display in iPhone/Android/webkit resolution:

<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=320; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;” />

<meta name=”apple-mobile-web-app-capable” content=”yes” />

Adding this code below between the <head></head> section of the HTML for your mobile web site will allow you to add an icon to the iPhone home screen such that access to the website can be obtained through the home screen of the iPhone.

<link rel=”apple-touch-icon” href=”http://yourdomainhere.com />

This tutorial shows how to make and the save the icon and the appropriate size and file type (45×45 and .png)

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_to_create_custom_apple_iphone_website_icon.html

Adding this code below between the <head></head> section of the HTML for your mobile web site will hide the web browser bar from the screen and thus, make it appear even more like a native app:

<script type=”text/javascript”>
<!– <![CDATA[/*http://ajaxian.com/archives/iphone-web-development-tips-and-official-documentation-released */
window.onload = function() { setTimeout(function(){window.scrollTo(0, 1);}, 100);}
// ]]> –> </script>

The link below provides an easy-to-use open source CSS framework that offers the ability to stylize a mobile website to look and feel like an iPhone/Android App. I’ve used it for a couple of projects in my Master’s Program at NYU. There are a few others out there, but this one has been the easiest I’ve found.

http://iwebkit.net/

To boot, there are now open source development kits that allow you to build an app using traditional web languages such as HTML, Javascrip, CSS and then port that site into the development kit which will wrap the other necessary layers around it to function as a iPhone app that can be submitted to Apple for approval in their App store. Here are examples of two available

http://phonegap.com/
http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321604555

The internets bring us yet another fascinating yet completely useless gadget that I wish I could have.. The Euricase Ring Box. Essentially, take your average Engagement Ring Box and merge it with a digital picture frame and voila – the product you thought you never needed.

If only I had heard of this in September when I proposed to my beloved – I would have been the talk of the restaurant Stanton Social where it all went down! Instead of some measly Tiffany’s Box like the one below I could have had a “2-inch LCD display with a clock, alarm, calendar and photo album. The box also has LED perimeter lighting to make the ring stand out. There is enough onboard memory for storing up to 500 pictures or up to 60 minutes of video.”

Oh well, maybe when we renew our vows?  What Anniversary Year do you give LED screens?

This iSlate hysteria is ridiculous… The Execs at Apple must be laughing at all the free press and marketing they’re getting. They haven’t said one word about a tablet computer… not even an official hint that it’s possible and yet the internets, not just blogs but major financial reporting media are treating it as a fait accompli…

For their sake, I sure hope it’s coming because if not Apple stock takes a deeeeep nose dive (good time to buy). Actually, I take that back – $10 says that Apple stock ends low on the day of the announcement since there’s no way Apple will satisfy everyone with the first version of the iSlate.

So a good question may be what will it lack that it should already have?

[Future of Television] JoynTV Final Presentation from Jason Rosado on Vimeo.

Please feel free to comment and let us know your feedback!

My name is Raul Acosta Coutinho Jimenez. I am 64 years old.  I am originally from Salvador Da Bahia, Brasil.

I now live in Havana, Cuba with my wife in a Bed and Breakfast in a recently renovated townhouse that sleeps 6 comfortably with a garden, an in-ground pool and outdoor cinema.

My son also makes his home in this household and he is the reason for our current lifestyle.  When he isn’t home, we offer his room and 2 others in our townhouse to medical tourists arriving from the United States.

Back in 2011, my son Andres developed an iPhone app that sold millions of downloads through the iPhone store.   The app was influential all over the world, and also led to the dramatic opening of the Cuban society and economy for foreigners (and capitalists).

The app was essentially a Sims type video game that in a fun, yet effective, way simulated the experiences of the average Cuban citizen. The app takes advantage of a decision in 2011 that was made by the Cuban government after a series of hurricanes devastated the island.

The Cuban government, urged on by its struggling citizens after the hurricanes, relented to some of the pressures of its American antagonists. As a result, a summit between Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama established an exchange of American meteorology and mobile communications technology for access to the benefits of the world reknown doctors in the Cuban healthcare system.  This exchange provided the Cuban government with radar, video and telecommunications technology that blanketed our island in hopes of knowing when the next tropical depression would occur, where it would hit hardest and how to prepare for it.  The exchange also provided the American citizen free and easy access to our island (without consequence) in order to access our public healthcare system.  The necessity for this summit was urged on by the dramatic failure of the US healthcare reform legislation of 2009.  In 2016, there are 60 million without access to healthcare, but now 2 million US citizens come to our island monthly for their healthcare needs.

When the island was devastated by hurricanes in 2011, the iPhone Sims Cuba video game adjusted its game environment to reflect the signs of the times.  As a result, the millions of people who played the Sims Cuba video game for fun, then realized the devastation to the virtual community equaled that of the real community.  As a result, hundred of virtual donations poured through the application from virtual citizens of the world to their virtual Cuban counterparts.  A portion of the proceeds from the app went to a foundation established by the United Nations.  These foundations, flush with cash, provided the average Cuban with the critical resources necessary for a better life.  As a result, the average Cuban felt compelled to push their government representatives for more resources and more open-ness in their society.

And that is how and why I’m here.  My son decided to buy a home for us here, since he spent so much time here for business and diplomacy.  Now that Cuba is more of an open and “capitalist” society, we can manage our Bed and Breakfast business through our own iPhone app.  As they say, “Que Viva Cuba!”  “Long live Cuba!”

Synaptics 3D Smartphone Can Be Squeezed, Tilted – PC World.

I’ll post the actual video when it becomes available since the presentation only tells half the story. The spoken portions add more personal experiences.